Sliding door hanger assembly



Feb. 27, 1962 D. W. BLACKMER SLIDING DOOR HANGER ASSEMBLY Filed April 5, 1959 1N VEN TOR.

United States Patent 3,022,537 SLIDING DOOR HANGER ASSEMBLY Dwight W. lackrner, Eikhart, Ind., assignor to Ekco Products Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 3, 1959, Ser. No. 804,028 11 Claims. (Cl. 16-105) This invention relates to a sliding door hanger assembly and more particularly to hanger assemblies of this type wherein the connection between the door and the track engaging carrier of the hanger assembly may be established through interengagement of the cooperating parts by bodily movement of the door within its doorway and relative to said carrier.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved hanger assembly having features of construction and design which facilitate installation procedures and which also renders the assembly simple and economical as well as sturdy.

A further object resides in the use of improved means for preventing unintentional disconnection of the cooperating parts in spite of relatively severe operating conditions.

A further object resides in the use of improved means for selectively raising or lowering the position of interengagement of the cooperating parts of the carrier and bracket in order to facilitate adjustment of the door along the vertical dimension of the opening in which the door travels.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of installation showing use of a hanger assembly in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the carriage member as it appears when viewed from the side hidden from view in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan View of the carriage member.

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line 44 of FIG. 2 showing the bracket engaging member of the carriage member in a position to free said bracket engaging member for raising and lowering adjustment relative to the carriage member.

FIG. 5 is a top plan View of the bracket.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to PEG. 1 showing the bracket engaging member in a raised position relative to the portion thereof as shown in FIG. 1 and also showing the bracket in upward engagement with the latch to position the latter in an upwardly moved position.

The drawings illustrate a hanger assembly as applied to an installation wherein a door 10 is supported from a track 11 secured to a door frame 10 opposite the upper edge of said door.

Each hanger assembly, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention, includes a carrier body provided with a set of rollers 12 having guided movement along said track. As shown, the carrier body includes base member 13 having opposed end portions, each being straddled by a pair of said rollers 12 having rotary support on said base member 13 by means of shaft members 14 projecting from opposite faces of each base member. Reference numeral 15 designates a lever having one end thereof pivotally mounted against one face of the base member 13 by a rivet 16. The lever is of such greater dimension along a line measured radially of said pivot connectors 16 than the corresponding dimension of the base member 13 as to present an outer end portion 17. A series of teeth 18 arranged in an arc of a circle having said pivot connection as a center are formed along the edge portion of the base member 13 opposite said end 3,il22,537 Patented Feb. 27, 1962 "ace ' the pivoted end of the lever 15 to provide lugs 21 and 21 at a distance apart to straddle opposite faces of the base member 13 along the area of the latter containing the teeth 18. The lug 21 at the side of the notch nearest to the lever 15 has intermeshing engagement with the teeth 18 to releasably lock the lever 15 in selected rotated position about its pivot connection 16. When pressure applied to the outer end 17 of the lever 15 in a direction away from the face of the base member 13, the lug 21 is moved to clear the teeth 18 thereby allowing the lever to be moved to a selected rotated position and thereafter secured against unintentional withdrawal from said latter positions by interengagement of said lug 21 and said teeth 18 under normal stress of the lever to maintain a position close to the base member 13. The lug 21 provides a stop with which the surface of the base member 13 is engageable to prevent overbending of the lever 15 under fiexure applied to release the lug 21 from an interlocked relationship with the teeth 18. A hook 22 forming an extension of the lever 15 and having an upwardly facing work engaging surface 23 in downwardly spaced relation to said lever 15, is accordingly raised or lowered relative to the base member 13 under control of the rotated position of the lever 15 about its pivot 16. i

A bracket member for establishing a connection between said carrier member and the door 10, in accordance with this invention, comprises an elongated body 24 having opposite flat coplanar end sections 25 and 26 adapted for fixed attachment to the upper edge of the door 10 by means of screws 27 receivable through openings formed in said sections 25 and 26. The area of the body 24 between said end sections 25 and 26 is formed to provide a pair of armsections 28 and 29 converging uniformly upwardly an equal distance from said end sections 25 and 26. The arm sections 28 and 29 are joined at the upper ends thereof by a bridge section 30 defining a downwardly facing ridge 31 along a line transverse to the longitudinal axis of the body 24. The ridge 31 provides a fulcrum with which the work engaging surface 23 of the hook 22 of the lever 15 is engageable to suspend the door 113 therefrom. A slot 32 provided in the arm section 28 and leading to said bridge section 30 and a similar slot 33 in the arm section29, provides entrances to the area under said bridge through which the bridge section 30 is movable into an operative position over the edge 23 of the hook 22 from either end of said body 24. While the ridge 31 is thus operatively positioned over the hook 22, the surface of the lever 15 along an edge thereof from which the hook 22 extends and facing away from the base member is in confronting relation to an edge of the slot 3.3 where the latter intersects the bridge section 30.

The rivet 16 also provides a pivotal connection for a latch 34 arranged against the surfam of the base member 13 opposite to that surface of the base member facing the lever 15. The latch 34 is biased by gravity to assume a downwardly rocked position as shown in FIG. 1, wherein said latch occupies a position within the portionof the slots 32 and 33 intersecting the bridge section 30 of the bracket along the lower edge of the latch. It will be observed that the slots 32 and 33 are of narrower width along portions thereof intersecting the bridge section 30 than along the portions of the slots extending along the arms 28 and 29. The narrow portion of the slots 32 and 33 is thus confined to an area wherein the opposite edges of the slots cooperate with the'surfaces of the lever 15 and the latch 34 in estimating relation thereto when the latch 34 is in lowered operative position to trap the bracket 24 against movement from a balanced position lengthwise of the fulcrum provided by the ridge 31 without sacrificing necessary clearance to prevent binding of parts when operatively assembled, as well as ample clearance for admitting the hook 22 into the area below the ridge 31. t v t The lever is provided with an integral projection along the downwardly facing edge thereof to define a stop 35 with which the freeouter end of the latch 3 is engageable to limit downward pivotal movement of the latch 34. When the latch 34 thus engages the stop 35 to establish its limit of downward movement, the latch presents a downwardly facing cam edge 36 along a line extending upwardly and away from the end of the hook 22 at the entrance of the area above the work engaging edge of said book. The cam edge 36 accordingly operates to facilitate lifting of the latch 34 to its inoperative position in response to pressure against said edge in a t direction leading upwardly and inwardly toward the entrance to said area above the hook, as such pressure is applied thereto by the bridge section 31 of the bracket incident to establishing connection with the hook 22. The latch is also provided with a tongue 37 sheared and bent outwardly from the area of the latch above said edge 36. The tongue 37 extends a distance beyond the area between upward projections of the longitudinal limits of the bracket opposite thereto so as to be readily accessible for upward engagement to move the latch 34 away from an obstructing position at the entrance to the area between the hook 22 and the bodyof the lever 15 from tion about said lever pivot support when said lever is in unilexed state and from which notches said lever is re- I ieasable for rotation when said lever is simultaneously ilexed in a direction from said plate.

6. A sliding door hanger assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein said bracket comprises an elongated body having opposite fiat co-planar end sections and a pair of arm sections converging uniformly upwardly an equal distance from said sections, said arm sections being joined at the upper ends thereof by a bridge section defining a downwardly facing ridge along a line transverse to the longitudinal axis of said body, said ridge providing a fulcrum pivot with which tr e hook onthe lever has engagement to suspend the door therefrom, and a slot in each arm section leading to said bridge section provides space through which said hook on the lever has entry to the area under said fulcrum pivot from either direction lengthwise of said bracket.

7. A sliding door hanger assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein said latch is braced by gravity to occupy said first position and wherein said latch presents a downwardly facing edge along a line extending downwardly toward the leading end of the hook on the lever when said latch is in said first position, thereby presenting a surface along said lower edge with which the fulcrum pivot edge of the bracket is upwardly engageable to move the latch to its second position.

8. A sliding door hanger assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein said lever is provided with an integral projection defining a stop with which the swinging end of the latch is engageable to establish the first position which it projects and thereby facilitate operation of the latch before or after the carrier and bracket are operatively connected.

What is claimed is:

1. A sliding door hanger assembly including a carriage member having track engaging means, a lever pivotally supported on said carriage member for movement relative to-the latter from a raised position to a lowered position and intermediate positions therebetween, means for selectively locking said lever in said positions, a hook on said lever, a bracket member for connection to a sliding door, said bracket'having a fulcrum pivot with which said hook on the lever is engageable to suspend the door therefrom, and a latch movably supported on said carriage member for movement between first and second positions and effective to trap said hook and said fulcrum pivot against unintentional disengagement in one'of said positions of said latch.

2. A sliding door. hanger assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein said latch is movable between said first and second positions in a path parallel to the path of movement of said lever. v

3. A sliding door hanger assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein said carriage member has a pivot extending in opposite directions therefrom along a line in spaced parallel relation to the rotational axis of said rollers, said latch being movable abouttsaid pivot along one side of said carriage and said lever being movable about said pivot along the opposite side of said carriage.

4. A sliding door hanger assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein said lever has one end thereof pivotally 7 supported to one end of the carriage member and said supported is provided with a series of notches arranged 7 along the arc of a circle having said lever pivot support as a center, and said leverhas engegement with said of the latch and wherein said latch is biased by gravity to occupy said first position.

9. A sliding door hanger assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein said lever is of such greater dimension along a line measured radially of its pivotal support than corresponding dimension of the carriage member along the area of the latter facing said lever as to present an outer end portion on the lever projecting beyond the edge of the carriage member, and said outer end portion of the lever presents means for engaging the lever to lick the lever in a direction away from the face of the carriage member, said edge of the'carriage member and means on said outer end of the lever having inter-engagement under normal stress of the lever to lock the lever in a selected rotated position about its pivotal support thereafter released from said inter-engagement for movement to another rotated position when said lever is flexed in a direction away from the face of the carriage memher. 1

10. A sliding door hanger assembly in accordance with claim 9, wherein said outer end of the lever is provided with a pair of ears each having notches in which the edge of the carriage member has clearance when said lever is flexed in a direction away from the carriage member.

11. A sliding door hanger assembly including a carriage member having a track engaging roller and means providing an adjustable connection between'said carriage member and a door in suspended relation to the said carriage member to accommodate adjustment of said door between raised and lowered positions relative to the track engaging roller, said means including a second member to which said carriage member is pivotally joined for relative rocking movement about an axis in spaced parallel relation to the axis of said track engaging roller, one of said members being adjustable toward and away from the other member in a direction laterally of the path of movement of the door between raised and lowered positions to establish first and second adjusted positions of said adjustablemember, an ear forming an integral extension of said adjustable member, said ear being divided by a notch to define spaced apart first and second lugs, a toothed edge portion on the other of said members freely straddled by said lugs on the ear of the adjustable member when said adjustable member is in a second adjusted position, said toothed edge portion defining notches along the arc of a circle having said axis as a center with which said first lug on the adjustable member is selectively engageabie when said adjustable member is in a first adjusted position, said second lug on said adjustable member having engagement with the surface of the other member opposite thereto to limit movement of the adjustable member toward said second adjusted position, said adjustable member being stressed to normally occupy said first adjusted position.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Seely I an. 16, Ferris May 28, Willis et a1. Jan. 7, Jeflres Apr. 17, Martin Oct. 10, Hezlep Sept. 4, 

